Talk:Elizabeth II of Britain
Her ancestors have ruled parts of the UK for over a thousand years? You sure about that? Does she have some MacAlphin in her? That's the only line I can think of ruling part of Britain in the tenth century which I do not know for a fact has failed. By the way I didn't realize she was born in 1926. I thought it was earlier. I had wondered how the hell she was still alive and kicking. As is she's very old but not unbelievably so. Turtle Fan 19:19, 9 November 2008 (UTC) :Pulled that off of the main wiki. TR 20:05, 9 November 2008 (UTC) ::And they're never wrong. Remember Guy's thing about the African elephants? Turtle Fan 02:24, 10 November 2008 (UTC) :::We can edit it down if you think it's wrong. TR 05:15, 10 November 2008 (UTC) ::::Might be best. Even if she does have some very distant MacAlphin relation, the dynasty of which she's considered a part, and thus her family, doesn't go back very far. ::::You know, all this talk of Elizabeth made me think that, in an era when monarchs are useless hood ornaments, it might behoove standoffish crown wearers like she and Akihito to become popular, populist monarchs like the Bicycle Kings of Scandinavia. Me, I wouldn't appreciate them hiding out in their palaces sucking up tax money. ::::I don't appreciate Akihito doing it--When I was in Tokyo I took this half-assed bus tour. The last stop was supposed to be his palace grounds, and it was, but to protect his oh-so-precious privacy the palace is entirely screened off by trees so it's like any medium-sized inner-city park. Made for a really boring stop on a really boring tour. The guide did show an aerial photo of the palace and it looked awfully humble for the home of the highest-ranked monarch in the entire world. Turtle Fan 03:46, 11 November 2008 (UTC) Don't know why I never noticed this before, but is there a reason that we have her as queen of the United Kingdom when everyone else is King or Queen of Britain? Turtle Fan 23:22, December 23, 2009 (UTC) :I may have been vacilating between the two, and just forgot. TR 23:48, December 23, 2009 (UTC) Now that we're linking to Stirling as well as Flint, I wonder if we might want to propose the idea of a formal AH wiki alliance dedicated to pooling resources and cross-promotion. We could even see if anyone at Wiki HQ would make it an official group. That way, if there is a Birmo wiki out there, or a Tsouras, or even (God help us) a Conroy, or if any of those come into being in the future, they could all be referred to us. Turtle Fan 00:42, August 29, 2010 (UTC) :This sounds like a good idea. TR 17:44, August 29, 2010 (UTC) ::Your agreement commits Turtledove and Flint. We'll run it by Jim in Georgia and we could be in business. Turtle Fan 18:16, August 29, 2010 (UTC) Nationality Edits to her template got me thinking: Would it be accurate to describe her as Canadian, Australian, New Zealander et cetera as well as British? Turtle Fan 23:19, October 9, 2011 (UTC) :She doesn't seem to think of herself in those terms. TR 00:17, October 10, 2011 (UTC) ::I know that whenever a Commonwealth country hosts the Olympics she declines the IOC's invitation to fill the head of state role, leaving it to the appropriate Governor-General. I assumed it was because Canadians, for instance, would tend to identify much more closely with the G-G than with her. :::I would think so too. ML4E 20:06, October 12, 2011 (UTC) ::::I seem to recall Michelle Jean causing a bit of a stir when she erroneously referred to herself as head of state at some function or other? Turtle Fan 21:03, October 12, 2011 (UTC) :::Now that you mention it, I do have a vague recollection of that but don't remember the details. ML4E 22:15, October 12, 2011 (UTC) ::One would certainly expect her to think of herself as British, seeing as that's where she's always made her permanent residence. I wasn't sure on the legal status. When she visits other Commonwealth Realms, they treat her as one of their own. She's not a citizen in any of them, but I don't think she's a UK citizen, either, is she? She's not allowed to vote, for instance, not even for MPs and councillors whose constituencies include Buckingham Palace. ::I guess ML4E's the one to ask. Turtle Fan 00:46, October 10, 2011 (UTC) :::I don't know, I have never considered the issue. Thinking about it, I would consider her British not Canadian even though she is the Queen of Canada too. Its not unprecedented for a foreigner to be the monarch of another country though, especially in ones with close ties like Canada and the UK. :::News to me that she can't vote. However, there are precedences for that situation. For instance, it used to be that senior government employees (the Deputy and Assistant Deputy Ministers for example) were not permitted to vote to demonstrate their impartiality. More junior employees were allowed to vote but couldn't put up election signs or otherwise campaign for a particular candidate. They, never-the-less, were citizens. I would imagine Elizabeth is a citizen even if she doesn't vote. ML4E 20:06, October 12, 2011 (UTC) ::::I'm a little vague on the details but generally those who accept money from the Civil List, use the titles HM or HRH, and hold hereditary peerages are barred from the polls in the UK since the whole point to electing the House of Commons and the local councils is to have a government that is beyond the influence of those who hold office by right of birth. I'm unsure whether life peers are subject to the same restriction, though they can participate in party elections if there's not some other impediment to their doing so such as having served as Speaker. I don't know for sure but I believe that it was always this way, even in the days when the governments of England and Scotland (though I know England far better) were very far from democratic otherwise and the Commons was very limited in its authority. ::::In the US the right of every mentally competent law abiding adult citizen to vote is a Constitutional guarantee. However, though laws will vary from state to state, it's quite common for appointed officials such as judges (in state with unelected judiciaries and the Federal Bench) and the heads of departments with delegated authority to be barred from active participation in political campaigns: no displaying signs or bumper stickers, donating to campaign funds, or attending events. (The latter two can sometimes be circumvented by sending one's spouse in one's place.) Sometimes it's taken to rather silly levels, such as at the State of the Union where Justices are so careful to avoid expressing approval or disapproval of the President's agenda that they sit still and maintain (or struggle to maintain) neutral expressions throughout. It's even gotten to the point that they don't applaud when he enters or leaves the House floor. Turtle Fan 21:03, October 12, 2011 (UTC) Longest Reigning British Monarch "Along with Queen Victoria, she is one of two British monarchs to have a reign of 63 years." And as of tomorrow, will be serving longer than Victoria. I saw a newspaper article yesterday that claimed she will not be the longest reigning monarch of Canada since Louis XIV of France had New France as part of his domain. That became Quebec and so he ruled over Canada (or part therein) longer than Elizabeth. ML4E (talk) 19:14, September 8, 2015 (UTC)